


Invitation

by Alabaster86



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-03
Updated: 2015-02-03
Packaged: 2018-03-10 08:11:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3283217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alabaster86/pseuds/Alabaster86
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A 'between the lines' moment set before Mai's and Zuko's picnic in 'The Headband'....</p>
            </blockquote>





	Invitation

The harsh sound of the door chime wrenched Mai out of deep thought. Muttering to herself she ambled to the front of the house and pulled the door open.

“What?”

The man on the steps was a palace servant and he carried a tiny scroll.  Bowing, he held it out, a paper offering.

“For you, Lady Mai.”

It was either from Azula or Zuko. Chances favored the latter, however, since the princess was caught up in her machinations and gave neither Mai nor Ty Lee much notice these days. Mai snatched the scroll and sent the servant on his way. Curious, and hoping it was not one of Zuko’s horrible attempts at poetry, she untied the ribbon and read.

_Meet me at the secret gate an hour before sunset._

_Zuko_

“Could you be _more_ cryptic?”

The black haired girl found herself smiling, though, and then humming a tune under her breath as she headed upstairs to ready herself.  There wasn’t much time. She checked her hair in the mirror, adjusting a few pieces that had escaped during her long, boring day of reading and training and thinking. 

“I’m in love,” she confessed to the empty house and to her reflection. 

Mai felt warm inside. Despite the attitude and demeanor she had cultivated over the years, that disinterested one her parents loathed, further down, below all that, she felt keenly, and when she _loved_ , loved with a fierce loyalty. Her feelings for Zuko began in childhood. They were undeterred by years of separation and sat waiting in some corner of her heart for that time when they could flourish in the light of day once more.  That time had come.

She grabbed a cloak. Fire Nation evenings could get chilly from time to time. Locking the house behind her, she sauntered with casual grace along the cobblestone streets, dodging shoppers and workers all headed home. The main palace gates loomed but they were not her destination. She skirted the stone wall that surrounded Zuko’s home, leaving the bustle of Capitol City behind, looking for another gate, a much smaller one. Eventually, she found it. Mai rapped on the wood and called the prince’s name.

With a grating creak, the gate opened. Zuko stood, his own face alight, a picnic basket in his hand.

“I thought we could walk to the top of the caldera and have a picnic, you know, on that little plateau. We can watch the sunset.”  He shuffled his feet a bit and waited for Mai’s response.

“Sure, I’ve got nothing else to do.”

The young couple walked side by side, Mai’s cloak brushing against Zuko’s sleeve. Halfway up, the prince fumbled for her hand.  It was almost hot and Mai relished the feel of his skin against hers.  The day may have been dull. But her evening now held promise.

 

 

 

 


End file.
